Michigan State 89, Michigan 73
[Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog]
That felt all too familiar.
For the second straight game, Michigan got run off their home court in a contest far uglier than even the lopsided final score would indicate. Within ten seconds of the opening tipoff, MSU guard Bryn Forbes drilled a three-pointer. He'd sink seven more before taking a seat; taking an early seat due to the blowout was the only thing preventing him from tying and likely breaking the Crisler single-game record of nine made three-pointers.
With Denzel Valentine and Eron Harris chipping in, State sunk ten of their 14 first-half 3PA; Michigan couldn't stick with shooters whether in man or zone, allowing MSU to pick them apart with impressive passing. The Wolverines simply had no answer on the other end, making 4/16 first-half 3PA—3/6 for Derrick Walton, 1/10 for everyone else—and tallying only four assists to MSU's 11 in the opening stanza.
Matters didn't improve in the second half. Apparently tired of lighting Michigan up from the outside, MSU's first four second-half buckets came in the paint, including a demoralizing steal-and-slam by Matt Costello, who also embarrassed Mark Donnal with a subsequent spin move and reverse dunk on a post-up. The Spartans lead ballooned to as many as 30 points with 2:48 to play, at which point they were on pace for the best single-game eFG% mark of any team in the country this season; only a solid showing by Michigan's garbage-time unit made the score look half-respectable, and a series of missed shots by benchwarmers brought MSU's eFG% down to a mere 78.0%.
For the second straight game, Michigan displayed little ability to get anything going towards the basket, and they couldn't free up shooters as a result; Duncan Robinson finished with two points and missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. Zak Irvin did his best to keep Michigan within reach, scoring 19 on 16 shots, but he didn't get close to enough help from the supporting cast on either end. Aubrey Dawkins chipped in 14 points, but 12 of those came in the second half after the game was well in hand.
Michigan gets a badly needed chance to regroup Wednesday at Minnesota, which is still winless in the Big Ten, and they'll need to figure out what's wrong in a hurry; a rough final seven-game stretch starts next Saturday when the Wolverines host Purdue.
February 7th, 2016 at 11:06 AM ^
Define "stretch".
February 6th, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^
I don't disagree with your last sentence, but Beilein is 63 and likely to have mediocre teams the next two years. So what we're essentially hoping is that at 66 years old, he can recruit better talent and gear up for another deep tourney run. Do you really want to place that bet?
February 6th, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^
John Beilein is the Nick Saban of college basketball, don't ya know?
February 6th, 2016 at 6:56 PM ^
What's the alternative? Is Warde going to decide the basketball program can get more aggressive in recruiting?
If Warde is going to allow a culture change, then maybe not, but if he keeps the status quo that the bball program needs to be squeaky clean, then yes I am.
February 8th, 2016 at 9:30 AM ^
"likely to have mediocre teams the next two years"?
i'll take that bet.
we've got the 16th best offense in the country, the 234th most experienced team in the country, and we're going to finish in the top half of the big ten, despite the fact that we're missing our best offensive player.
john beilein can coach. i'll take him over just about anyone in the country, especially tommy goddamn amaker or the sanctimonious douchebag in east lansing.
put another way - why am i talking you off the ledge when i prefer that you jump?
February 6th, 2016 at 5:32 PM ^
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February 6th, 2016 at 7:38 PM ^
Wait till next season is a losers mentality. Plain and simple. Sorry but it's true.
February 6th, 2016 at 9:41 PM ^
February 6th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 2:44 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 3:55 AM ^
Logged in to upvote you. Belien uber alles! He will figure it out.
February 7th, 2016 at 2:20 PM ^
Exactly. Firing him now would not be good for the program and would be a massive PR blunder. Firing him at the end of the year if we miss the tournament would be palatable to the masses but likely set us back unless Warde can pull in someone elite.
And moreover, it is insane to insult the man's ability as a coach. You can debate where he ranks on the spectrum of good to great (or even call him "mediocre" if you can point me to the metrics that suggest such a thing) but in no world can he be considered below average overall. I know better than to dwell on the comments of the blog in the wake of a loss, but it drives me nuts to read some of the comments. And I know some of these are the same who were hailing JB as recently as the Maryland game.
February 7th, 2016 at 12:59 PM ^
you can't ding him for not making the NCAA tournament at Canisius and Richmond. It's actually somewhat impressive he made it at both schools (although the Canisius season wasn't great, they just made one those runs through the conf tourney despite a .500 conf record).
At West Virginia and Michigan, where a good coach can be expected to make the tourney most years, he's a good, not great, 7 of 13 (with this season being up in the air). At both schools, the trajectory has been...wavy. You're absolutely right that he is what he is at this point, which is a coach with a baseline of a 7-10 seed in the tourney that every 5-7 years hits on a couple underrated guys that take him further but who suffers some disappointing missed tourney/losing seasons in between. It's above average, but yes, at this point, with Jumpman as the new sponsor, and sanctions well in the rearview mirror, it seems like we could definitely take another step forward with a Archie Miller, Gregg MarshalL, Kevin Ollie, Shaka Smart type up-and-coming guy. Hope we back up the moeny truck when the time comes.
Taking that step forward is also not a gaurantee even with a coveted hire and he's done more than enough to deserve to go on his own terms. So let's hope for one of those upswing years soon if he has several years left in him.
February 7th, 2016 at 2:28 PM ^
+1 for rational disappointment. Your last paragraph nails it.
If he misses the tourney this year and struggles in 2017, I think he will be ready to step aside. If he somehow pulls another deep run this year or next year, then give him 2018. Barring a title run and major recruiting class (seems unlikely), 2019 we have a new coach for sure.
Some will be disappointed with that timeline, always believing it's easy to make us an elite program. We have a history, but it ain't like football. There is no equivalent Harbaugh out there and the Shaka Smart's of the world probably don't view us as any better a destination than Texas. If we whiff on an "up and comer" coach and recruiting doesn't take the leap, we go back to the Amaker era.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:43 PM ^
When can we start the basketball coaching candidate threads? My vote is Archie Miller. I'd kick the tires on Chris Mack as well, but he's a Xavier alum and might be there for the long haul.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:47 PM ^
Greg Marshall or Tony Bennett from UVA?
In all seriousness, new recruiting coordinator and assistant coach shouldn't be too unrealistic to expect in the offseason.
I think Beilein will get 2 more years.
Can't have Harvard outrecruiting Michigan.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:49 PM ^
Only place I could see Bennett leaving UVa for is Wisconsin. Marshall would be a good hire but at this point I'm not sure Michigan's a better program than Wichita.
February 6th, 2016 at 5:34 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^
Michigan not a better program than Wichita? What other than Gregg Marshall makes Wichita even mildly successful? And what would be attractive about Wichita to the next coach should he leave? I'm actually honestly asking these questions, becase I'm just assuming they don't have the national appeal, money or facilities that we do, but maybe I'm wrong?
We have brand new, beautiful facilities, Jumpman sponsor, and boatlaods of money if we want to use it. The only ding on our program at this point is that we don't fill the stadium when we're a mediocre team. We should be able to pay and attract most up-and-coming coaches who shouldn't have to worry about medicore teams.
February 6th, 2016 at 6:11 PM ^
Chris Mack almost went to Cal last year.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:45 PM ^
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February 6th, 2016 at 4:48 PM ^
UM needs to right the ship, or at least get it leveled out or they are going to find themselves on the bubble.
Minny is so bad, UM's rpi might drop even with a win against the gophers.
February 7th, 2016 at 1:01 PM ^
and that quickly back squarely on the bubble facing a must-win road game.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:46 PM ^
I thought their remaining game against Iowa was at home and the last game of the regular season???
February 6th, 2016 at 4:47 PM ^
We don't play at Iowa next week.
Good write-up otherwise.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:51 PM ^
Wasn't that close.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^
Beilein has had two deep tourney runs in 9 seasons. It's absolutely fair to question whether his system/style can push us consistently into the top tier of the B1G. MSU has ran us out of Crisler two years in a row now and we just don't look physical and get pushed around against the top-tier teams. I don't want to call for his head yet but it is worth asking whether 2013-2014 were blips or if Beilein can generate that type of run again.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:58 PM ^
February 6th, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^
I can kind of understand big men not being that interested in coming to AA, but after the FF and Elite 8 runs, the lack of interest from solid perimeter players is extremely head scratching.
February 6th, 2016 at 5:45 PM ^
100%. JB isn't elite, but put NBA guys in his system and good things can happen. It just doesn't look like he's been able to capitalize and there isn't any reason to think we take the leap in recruiting.
February 6th, 2016 at 5:02 PM ^
Examination of his 40 year career suggests they were indeed blips. No defense, no rebounding, no interior game. Can't win consistently that way without NBA talent, and Beilein very rarely gets NBA talent.
February 6th, 2016 at 5:09 PM ^
February 6th, 2016 at 5:00 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^
but most teams would have kept it within 30 for longer than that. I mean, it's not like Forbes was hitting these with a hand in his face. He came in as the one guy you can't let shoot, do not help off him and our awful man defense was so awful, we helped off him time and again...and then inexplicably went to a 1-3-1 and left him even more open! State was great, but we had a lot do to with it, players and coaches. It was a very poor gameplan and effort.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^
February 6th, 2016 at 4:58 PM ^
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February 6th, 2016 at 6:24 PM ^
February 6th, 2016 at 9:48 PM ^
Do you consider Danny Green and Draymond Green flame outs too? And anyone else who averages less than 12.5 one too?
You're a fool. Trey and Stauskus have 10 year NBA careers ahead of them.
February 7th, 2016 at 8:46 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^
Trey will be a nice backup PG for hopefully 10 years.
But Stauskas has been an out-and-out disaster..so far. He couldn't stay on the floor for the terrible Kings, so they traded him to a team that is historically bad because they WANT to be bad. Not only is he a disaster on defense, the one thing he's supposed to do well, 3pt shooting, he does at a 32% clip this year. He has a god-awful 8.30 PER which doesn't even take into account the defensive problems. The sixers bought low in hopes those shooting percentages come up and they can flip him to a team that is in denial about how bad his defense is or thinks they can turn that around. Just because he's averaging 8ppg (which isn't good anyway) for a historically bad team that is running him out there because it is a win-win for them (if he plays bad, they are more likely to lose, which is what they want, and if he shoots well, they might be able to flip him).
Nik is young, hopefully he turns it around, but his first 1.5 years couldn't have gone worse save for a career ending injury, and I can't imagine it's doing anything to change the "white boy basketball" can't-play-defense, perception of Michigan players and program.
February 6th, 2016 at 4:59 PM ^
Can't recruit well enough to be a powerhouse without being dirty and nobody is less dirty than Beilein, that's all there is to it.
February 6th, 2016 at 5:29 PM ^
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February 6th, 2016 at 6:00 PM ^
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February 7th, 2016 at 2:16 PM ^
Bo Ryan, Tony Bennett, Shaka Smart, Gregg Marshall, Billy Donovan, Jay Wright, even Izzo have acheived their success by running dirty programs? Yes, we are never going to be like Louisville, Kansas, Duke, UNC or Kentucky, but there is a step above where we are now that doesn't include bag men and improper bennies. It's not easy to get there and I don't think we should get rid of good to try to find better, but the notion that you can't be better than we are without cheating is flat wrong.
February 6th, 2016 at 7:31 PM ^
February 6th, 2016 at 5:04 PM ^
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February 6th, 2016 at 6:22 PM ^
February 6th, 2016 at 5:07 PM ^
I'm not sure what sarcastic comment to make here, take your pick:
- The endless fball/bball beatings by our rivals (OSU, MSU) will continue until morale improves.
- THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?
- Don't worry, I'm sure no coach in the country could've done a better job today.
- You want to criticize Beilein? Are you stupid?
- (insert team here that blew us out by 20) is clearly championship caliber *conviniently ignores their other, more average performances*
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